Masteries

Offense:
0

Defense:
8

Utility:
22

Chapter 1

HAPPY HOUR, INCOMING!

"The only time I have a drinking problem is when I spill it!"

This build hasn't been updated since the nerf to tanky DPS and since they've removed Innervating Locket. I'm looking to revamp this build, but it's still undergoing testing. I'll edit this section when that's complete. This build still does fairly well, though.

Gragas is one of the most unique champions in the League of Legends, and easily one of the most fun. With a barrel-tossing skillshot that reduces damage and is great for farming, a mana-restoring buff that makes you tough as hell, a charge that does AoE damage and slows your targets, and and ultimate that lets you control teamfights, Gragas has a lot going for him.

Just remember: You are a tank if there ever was one. Your job is not to do damage. You do not run into your enemies and autoattack them. You do not use your Barrel Roll or Explosive Cask for damage no matter how well they stack with AP. If you wanted to play a carry, try Master Yi or Tryndamere or something.

No, your job is to get in the way, debuff your foes, and control the battlefield. You want to be the thorn in everybody's side. You won't do the most damage, but you're going to make your enemies pull out their hair when they're crawling along at a snail's pace, with 30% reduced attack speed so they can't just stand and fight, and then when they finally make it to their tower, BOOM, you Explosive Cask them right back into the tender hands of your Tryndamere. Happy hour, INCOMING!

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SUMMONER SPELLS

BEST SPELLS:

CLAIRVOYANCE: The single best summoner spell in the game. It gives you vision to anywhere on the map, at any time. With your final utility mastery and the Improved Clairvoyance ability, you'll be using this almost constantly. This prevents ganks, detects junglers, and makes you an all around better player.

TELEPORT: Sometimes you just need to be somewhere else before they take town a turret, or before your carry overextends again. Teleport is pretty useful for those times, and is a good choice if your enemy team doesn't have much CC, or if you don't like Clairvoyance.

Alright Spells:

FLASH: If you need Flash, 99% of the time you're playing poorly. If your only method of escape is a short teleport, guess what: you shouldn't have been where you were. If you're good, you do NOT need Flash.

IGNITE: You're not a carry or a nuker. The only possible use Ignite has is to make sure that your target doesn't heal back to full. If you can't catch a runner with Gragas, you need to rethink your involvement with LoL or learn to aim or something.

GHOST: This one is pretty good. It gives you increased movement speed for a long, long time, especially if you have the Masteries for it. Plus, I heard it gives your Body Slam increased range, although I've never tried it myself.

CLARITY: You don't need the mana regen that badly. I guess it could be useful sometimes, and there's really nothing wrong with having Clarity.

EXHAUST: Making your enemies slow down and miss for a couple seconds can really put a dent in your enemy carry's damage output, and makes it a little easier for you.

Bad Spells:

HEAL: If you take heal, you're a punk. It won't save you, it will only delay the inevitable, since it doesn't change the fact that you're getting beaten down and have no escape.

RALLY: Are you kidding me?

REVIVE: Again, are you kidding me? If you ever take revive as anybody but maybe Pantheon, you're probably misusing it. I've heard some incredible stories of counter-pushing from an all-revive team, but if you were that good, you wouldn't need a guide.

SMITE: If you're not jungling, you don't take Smite. If you are jungling, then you take Smite. That's really about it. I don't jungle with Gragas.

FORTIFY: I don't much like Fortify, although it can be used well to make the other team back off if you're not cool with them pushing when they are.

SKILLS

HAPPY HOUR: Your extremely useful passive. Whenever you use an ability, you heal 2% of your health. It's one of the reasons that cooldown reduction is so useful on Gragas, and that Spirit Visage works so well. You'll be spending a sizeable chunk of your lifespan getting that 2% healing going on.

Barrel Roll: Since the last patch, it reduces attack speed by 30% and also scales very well with AP. It's a fun ability, and extremely spammable. In laning phase, aim it so that it hits all of the minions for maximum farming and pushing. Against enemies, aim it at their autoattack champs if they have any, and at absolutely anybody at all. Here's a tip: Throw it behind your enemies. They'll back up into it, ensuring that you deal damage and slow their attack speeds, reducing their ability to fight back.

Drunken Rage: It restores your mana, and when you finish channeling it gives you a serious durability boost. It reduces a straight percentage of damage. I don't think I need to emphasize how good this ability is. With it, you can spam your abilities constantly and will be deceptively hard to kill. "Y I NOT HURT GRAGAS? HURR DURR", says Master Yi.

Body Slam: Your initiate, fleeing ability, and all-around awesome stuff. Spam it. It costs next to nothing, moves you at a rediculously fast speed, and does AoE damage and stun. This is the killer. People see Gragas and they expect the AP build, since people go "OMG GRAGAS AP RATIO IS LIKE 1:1! TIME TO STACK MEJAIS!" They'll expect for you to have like 1k health and just try and throw barrels and then run away. With Body Slam, you turn that simple-minded miscalculation into certain death since they overextended and now they can't escape while you roll barrels and belly flop them to death.

Explosive Cask: Your ultimate lets you control the battlefield. No joke. Use it to knock back runners to you, to knock people away from your carry, or to push away somebody with an AoE. It's seriously awesome. And it scales 1:1 with AP! You won't be stacking AP with this build, but every little bit helps sometimes and the knowledge will help you develop your own build.

ITEMS

Start with BOOTS OF SPEED and a couple of HEALTH POTIONS. Mobility is a good thing, and not getting ganked is another good thing. You're able to lane for a long, long time between your passive constantly regenerating health and your Drunken Rage giving you mana, so take advantage of it.

On your first trip back, get KINDLEGEM. Its health bonus will improve your passive, and the cooldown reduction will benefit all of your abilities, which are highly spammable. And it's just so inexpensive!

On your next trip back, pick up your SOUL SHROUD. Its mana regen will help you out, and your entire team will thank you for the reduced cooldowns.

After that, try and build the ROD OF AGES. It should still be early enough in the game that you'll get the full effect from it. If you've gotten the Rod of Ages before the 15 minute mark, you're doing ok.

Next, build your boots into MERCURY TREADS. Unless your enemies are idiots, they're going to try and slow you and beat you to death so they can kill the rest of the team without being pushed around and slowed. You're tough, but you're vulnerable to CCs when your Cleanse is on cooldown. Don't get bogged down in slows- you've got a job to do!

After that, work your way towards the FROZEN HEART. It's around this time that carries start to get that logarithmic gain in power, so reducing their attack speed helps both you and your allies not get murdered. It also helps with mana regen, a problem that I find myself having after extended skirmishing if I'm not careful or if my enemies are agressive.

Don't be afraid to reverse the order of SOUL SHROUD and KINDLEGEM if you need to, by picking up a SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL instead of a RUBY CRYSTAL first. Mana management can be difficult for poor Gragas, and if you're out of mana, you're out of utility!